


Way down we go

by chick_with_wifi



Category: Batman (Comics), Birds of Prey (Comic), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Canon Disabled Character, Dinah is a member of the Justice League, F/F, Murder Mystery, Spaceships, takes place in the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-13 04:59:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16010780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chick_with_wifi/pseuds/chick_with_wifi
Summary: Dinah Lance receives a distress call from a seemingly deserted spacecraft, but she soon realises that whatever killed the crew is still onboard and the only person who can help her is a mysterious voice calling herself 'Oracle'.





	Way down we go

**Author's Note:**

> I have been listening to a lot of podcasts set in space recently, in particular Wolf 359 and the Strange Case of Starship Iris, which were the inspiration for this fic. As well as the fact that the world needs more Dinahbabs AUs.

The distress call came early in the morning.

Dinah Lance was about to chart a course for Earth, having finished her mission for the Justice League, when she noticed the blinking red light in the corner of the screen.

When she tapped on the icon, it revealed an ‘SOS’ message originating from a nearby location.

She jumped into action and piloted her ship to those coordinates as fast as possible.

But she was too late.

She docked her ship on the roof and dropped through the hatch into the spacecraft. She landed with her right knee and left foot on the ground, supporting herself with her right hand.

It was cold and dark, lit only by the emergency strip lighting on the floor. And it was completely empty.

But this doesn’t make any sense, Dinah thought. There had to be someone here to send out the distress call...didn’t there?

She was feeling less sure of herself now, but nevertheless decided to investigate the abandoned spacecraft. 

While exploring she found a few indications that people had been living there. A half-finished sudoku on the holographic games table. A cup of tea going cold on the counter.

It reminded Dinah of the Mary Celeste, an old Earth seaship that was found deserted for no...discernable...reason…

Looking through the window in the door to the brig, Dinah discovered what had happened to the crew.

The door was sealed and there were bullets embedded in the walls, as well as scorch marks ij a line on the floor. She guessed a fight must have broken out and in the chaos something was set on fire, the smoke from which activated the emergency protocols - meaning the crew were spaced.

Dinah found herself blinking back tears, overcome with sorrow for these lives so tragically cut short. If only she had been faster, maybe there was something she could have done?

She knelt on the floor to pay her respects, then was about to return to her ship when she heard a tinny, distorted voice coming from the control room across the hall.

“Hello?” the voice called out. As Dinah approached the room, she was able to identify it as female. “Is anybody there? Please, please come in. Even if it’s only to tell me to get lost...I just want to know you’re alright. Please.”

Tentatively, Dinah stepped toward the console. “Hello?”

“Yes, hello. Is someone there?” the voice asked with a hint of optimism. It felt like a gut punch to Dinah, as she realised her reply had inadvertently given this poor woman false hope. Stupid Dinah. This is why you’re meant to think before you act. 

Figuring her best option was to just tell the truth, she took a breath. “My name is Dinah Lance, I’m a member of the Justice League. I received an SOS message from this craft but by the time I got here...there were no survivors. I’m sorry.”

The woman was silent for a moment, then said, “Do you - do you know what happened?”

“There was a fire in the brig. The airlock opened and…” She didn’t need to say any more.

“Thank you for telling me.” The woman’s voice broke on the last word and it was clear she was about to cry.

Dinah heard her sobs and wanted to give her a hug, but since she couldn’t do that she had to settle for placing her hand on the console.

Gradually the sobs abated and were replaced with the sound of typing, punctuated by the occasional sniffle. Meanwhile, Dinah knelt in a more comfortable position on the floor.

A few minutes later the woman said, “Excuse me, um, Dinah, did you say your name was?”

“Yes.”

“You can call me Oracle. Listen, Dinah, from what I’ve been able to find out, that fire was no accident. There was no reason for the entire crew to be in the brig at the exact same time. Not to mention, the door was locked from the outside. So who or whatever caused it could still be onboard the spacecraft.”

“Sabotage, huh? Well that explains the bullets in the walls,” Dinah muttered.

“There are bullets in the walls?” Oracle asked. “Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t know why I felt the need to ask. Okay, Dinah, I’m going to help get you out of here in one piece.”

“But what about the comms? Once I leave this room we won’t be able to -”

“You said you were with the Justice League, right? I can hack into the frequency of your standard-issue earpiece. We’ll be able to communicate from anywhere.”

“Alright.” Dinah stood up. “Guess I’ll get going then.”

There was a crackle of static as her earpiece came to life, then Oracle’s voice came through loud and clear. “I’ve got access to the craft’s blueprints and infrared imaging. I can use them to track your progress but if the saboteur isn’t human - and I suspect they’re not - then I won’t be able to locate them.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that, Oracle.” Dinah had spotted something moving out of the corner of her eye and raced around the corner so she was out of sight, back against the wall. She was frozen in terror but managed to choke out, “They’re here. Around the corner to my left, maybe ten feet away.”

Every single instinct she possessed was screaming at her to run, but all she could manage was a shudder. An old Earth saying came into her head, that the cause of that creepy fingers-running-up-your-spine feeling was someone walking over your grave. At that moment, if was more like someone was tap dancing on her grave.

“No sudden movements, Dinah,” Oracle said, her voice low.

“That will not be a problem,” she muttered. She didn’t think she could move even if she wanted to, no matter how scared she was.

“Just focus on my voice,” Oracle told her. “Now I know where they are, I’m looking at the readouts for that particular location relative to your current position, to see if I can find out what we’re dealing with here.”

“Glad to be useful,” Dinah replied with only a hint of sarcasm.

“It’s… Huh?” Oracle paused for a moment. “Dinah, it’s a robot.”

“You don’t sound very sure,” Dinah said.

“No, I am. I’m just surprised. I was expecting an alien, honestly. But yeah. Robot.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Not sure yet. But at least we know. Unfortunately, that means you can’t fight it with you martial arts skills.”

Dinah frowned. “How did you…?”

“I read you file.”

“Of course you did,” she whispered. She could hear the heavy, even footsteps increasing in volume as the robot approached. “It’s getting closer. What do I do?”

Any second now, she was expecting a cold metal hand to reach around the corner and pin her to the wall by her throat, preventing her from using her canary cry.

Oracle was muttering to herself quickly, almost a sentence a second. “Okay, think think. We don’t know what the robot is programmed to do, it might have orders to kill on sight. Can’t override it - don’t have enough information - there’s no time.”

“Oracle!” Dinah hissed urgently.

“Sorry. I hate to say this but your best option is to make a run for it. The robot is slow so take advantage of that. Now, go.”

Dinah sprinted toward the end of the corridor. She kept her eyes on the hatch that led to her ship, but was also hyper aware of what was going on behind her.

Just a little further, she might actually make it.

“Stop,” ordered a synthesised voice.

Dinah spun around on one heel, in time to see the robot level its blaster arm at her.

Pure instinct took over and she threw her weight forward into a handspring. She sailed over the robots head, keeping ahead of the laser bullets fired at her, which hit the wall instead.

She landed behind her enemy, then jumped up to straddle its shoulders. From there she reached down and ripped the control panel out of its chest.

The newly exposed wires sparked for a few seconds before the lights flickered off and the robot powered down. Her work done, she dismounted and threw the panel onto the floor.

‘Can’t use your martial arts skills’ my butt, she thought to herself.

“Dinah!” Oracle shouted through her earpiece. “Talk to me! What’s happening?”

Wincing, Dinah put a hand to her ear. “Could you take it down a notch, O?”

“I was worried about you.”

“Yeah? Well I saved the day. Tore out the control panel. Don’t need to be a tech genius to know something can’t work if it’s broken.”

Oracle made a hum of approval. “That was some quick thinking on your part, well done. Now, might I suggest you return to your ship?”

“Good suggestion.” Dinah headed toward the hatch, pressed the button to open it and pulled herself up.

It was a huge relief to be back in her familiar, well-lit ship. For the past few years it had not only been her JL-issued transport but also her home.

She leaned back in the pilot seat and tapped the screen, setting the autopilot to take her back to Earth, just like she had intended to when she got the distress call. Before everything went wrong.

She tried not to let the bad thoughts consume her mind, but her attempts were fruitless. She couldn’t stop thinking about the scorch marks on the floor, the open airlock, the half-finished sudoku.

Now she was back in safety, the silence she had expected to be peaceful just seemed empty. Even though it had only been a few minutes, she missed having a certain woman’s voice in her ear.

“Hey Oracle, you there?”

“Yes I’m here,” came the reply. After a pause she asked, “How are you doing?”

“What, after nearly being shot by a hostile robot? That’s just another Tuesday when you’re a member of the Justice League.”

“Mm. I’m glad to hear you’re so chipper about that, but I was actually referring to the crew who died today.”

“Oh. That.”

“You were the one who received the SOS,” Oracle continued. “You found out what happened to them. That’s got to be rough.”

Dinah sighed. “It is. Believe me it is. I can’t stop thinking, what if there was something I could have done, some way I could have saved them. Replaying the scenario over and over in my head.” She buried her face in her hands. “It’s awful.”

“I know,” Oracle said, her tone full of sympathy. “Being unable to save everyone is the hardest part of the hero business. But it’s not your fault. You did everything you could.”

Dinah wanted to reply ‘you don’t know that’ but when she opened her mouth, the words wouldn’t come out. For the first time in longer than she cared to admit, she felt understood. Yet something was niggling in the back of her mind regarding Oracle.

“What about you?” Dinah asked eventually.

“Me?”

“You worked with the crew. Did you know them well?”

“I did. We had been working together for a few years. They were friends. I’m...I’m really going to miss them.”

Dinah had been expecting a reply along those lines, but it still hurt to hear it said aloud. “Promise me something, Oracle. That we’ll find whoever did this and make them pay.”

Oracle took her time replying. “Ordinarily, Dinah, I’d be against something like that. But today I have to say I’m not feeling particularly merciful. I suggest we send them to the worst prison the galaxy has to offer - the Slab.”

“Fine by me,” Dinah said. “As long as we punch them in the face first. Maybe break their nose for good measure.”

When Oracle didn’t reply, Dinah suspected she may have overstepped. “Too dark, huh? Why don’t you tell me a story to take your mind off all this. Or maybe sing me a song. I bet you have a lovely voice.”

“You know,” Oracle said, “there is a song I’ve had in my head all day. It goes like this… _She asked me, ‘Son, when I grow old will you buy me a house of gold? And when your father turns to stone will you take care of me?’_ ”

Dinah knew the song as well and joined in. “ _She asked me, ‘Son, when I grow old will you buy me a house of gold? And when your father turns to stone will you take care of me?’_ ”

Together they sang, “ _I will make you queen of everything you see, I'll put you on the map, I'll cure you of disease._

_“Let's say we up and left this town, and turned our future upside down. We'll make pretend that you and me, lived ever after happily._

_“Oh, and since we know that dreams are dead and life turns plans up on their head, I will plan to be a bum so I just might become someone. _”__

__“Wow,” Dinah said when they were finished. “You have really old-fashioned taste in music.”_ _

__Oracle laughed, a sound even more lovely than her singing. “I don’t get out much, so I really have no idea what the kids are listening to these days.”_ _

__“Tell you what, when this is all over, how about I buy you a drink and play you some of what the cool kids listen to here in the 22nd century,” Dinah suggested._ _

__“Actually I don’t drink alcohol.”_ _

__“Tea, then.”_ _

__“I do like tea,” Oracle admitted. She sounded like she was smiling and it made Dinah’s heart flutter._ _

__“It’s a date.”_ _

__“Wow. Asking me on a date and we haven’t even met yet. Kids in the 22nd century sure move fast.”_ _

__Embarrassment, thy name is Dinah. “I didn’t, I just meant -”_ _

__Oracle chuckled. “Relax, I’m just messing with you. It’s a date, Dinah. Provided you want it to be.”_ _

__Dinah was about to reply in the affirmative when she heard something over the comms. Something that sounded an awful lot like blaster fire. “Oracle?” Acting on instinct, she was already halfway out of her seat._ _

__Oracle cursed, her voice fainter than usual as if she had moved away from the comms panel._ _

__Dinah’s stomach lurched. “What’s the matter?”_ _

__“They found me,” Oracle said. “Whoever killed my crew. Apparently I’m next on their list. They are trying to wipe us out. I thought I’d outrun them but… I’m in a bad way here, Dinah. I cut this one too close.”_ _

__Dinah began setting the flight controls back to manual. “Give me your location.” Oracle obliged and she typed it in. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Can you hold till then?”_ _

__“I’ll try,” Oracle said, but she didn’t sound certain._ _

__“I’m coming,” Dinah promised. “I won’t be too late this time.”_ _

__In her determination to get there as soon as possible, Dinah broke every intergalactic speed limit she knew of (and a few she didn’t)._ _

__Oracle’s slightly panicked voice broke through the silence. “Dinah?”_ _

__“I’m nearly there. Just hold on a little longer, okay?”_ _

__“I can’t. I have one last option and it’s not a good one. Time to go on a little spacewalk.”_ _

__When she arrived at the coordinates, all that she saw was the charred remains of what had once been a small speeder (the kind without weapons as they’re built for stealth not combat) and someone in a spacesuit, freefloating just outside of the blast radius - Oracle._ _

__Dinah came to a stop next to her and opened the external airlock. She waited for Oracle to pull herself in, then closed that door and waited for the chamber to pressurise before opening the internal door._ _

__“Looks like I got here right on time, huh?” she said as she walked towards Oracle, who sat shivering on the floor. “You are Oracle, right?”_ _

__Taking off the helmet to reveal shoulder-length red hair, she said in a familiar albeit weak voice, “Not Oracle...Barbara. Call me Barbara.” She unzipped her spacesuit and took it off, fumbling to get it over her legs._ _

__Dinah knelt next to her and pulled her into a tight hug, which she returned wholeheartedly._ _

__“You shouldn’t have come, Dinah,” Barbara said into her shoulder._ _

__Dinah pulled away. “What?”_ _

__“It’s me they want, not you.”_ _

__“Don’t talk crazy. I owe you one, remember? After you saved my behind from that robot. And...I didn’t want anything to happen to you.” Dinah climbed to her feet and offered her hand. “Can you stand?”_ _

__Barbara smiled awkwardly and glanced away. “Um...no. I don’t have use of my legs. And my wheelchair was blown up along with my ship. Which is not convenient.”_ _

__Before Dinah could reply, a blast hit the ship and caused it to pitch to one side as the floor juddered. She lost her balance and fell onto her knees. A dent formed in the metal hull and from her position on the floor she shielded Barbara with her body._ _

__“Hey,” Barbara said quietly. “How are you at evasive maneuvers?”_ _

__“Evasive whatnows?”_ _

__“Nevermind. Can you get me to the pilot seat?”_ _

__“Sure thing.” Dinah swept Barbara into a bridal carry and walked carefully across the less-than-stable floor to deposit her gently into the seat._ _

__“Okay.” Barbara took a moment to familiarise herself with the setup, then started hitting buttons._ _

__Dinah looked out of the window and saw two enemy ships headed towards them, both armed with very big guns. “We’ve got company,” she announced._ _

__“Then let’s get out of here,” Barbara said. She took hold of the steering handles and pressed the throttle button._ _

__The ship jolted slightly then seemed to come to life. Barbara flew quickly, keeping well abreast of the enemies._ _

__Dinah had never seen her ship move this fluidly before. Actually she didn’t think she’d ever seen any ship move this fluidly before. She suspected that maybe without the use of her legs Barbara had turned to developing her flying skills instead._ _

__But it wasn’t enough to lose the enemies on their tail, so when they passed an asteroid field Barbara aimed straight for it. She didn’t even slow down as she weaved in and out of the gaps with ease._ _

__Ordinarily in a situation like this Dinah would be feeling the urge to close her eyes but this time she didn’t dare look away in case she missed anything. She continued to keep watch at the back window where she could see the enemies who were somehow getting ever closer and aiming their guns at their ship._ _

__“They’re gaining on us,” she said. Her voice came out higher pitched than intended. “And getting ready to - fire!”_ _

__Barbara glanced over her shoulder and saw the laser ball coming towards them. “You might want to hold on to something.”_ _

__Dinah had just enough time to throw herself into the nearest seat and put on a safety harness before Barbara wrenched the handles upward and toward herself, leading the ship to do a loop-the-loop and avoiding the laser ball entirely._ _

__The only downside of that being it made Dinah feel like she had left her stomach behind. And from the look of her, Barbara hadn’t enjoyed it any more than she had._ _

__Dinah looked out of the window again and winced. “We’ve got another one, 4 o’clock.”_ _

__“We’re not gonna make it,” Barbara muttered. “Unless…” She started hitting buttons, her jaw set in determination._ _

__“What are you doing?”_ _

__“All Justice League aircrafts are equipped with a top of the line warp drive. We can use yours to make the jump to lightspeed and leave these undesirables in our spacedust.”_ _

__Dinah, being something of a technophobe, had no idea what that was but it sounded complex and useful. And the laser ball was hurtling towards them. “Then what are you waiting for, do it!”_ _

__Still typing, Barbara said, “It’s not that easy! I have to get the calculations exactly right otherwise we risk ending up in a black hole. You don’t want to end up in a black hole, do you?”_ _

__“Barbara!”_ _

__“Okay, okay, I’m doing it.”_ _

__She pressed the large button and they shot forward. The windshield was filled with lines of blue light, then came to a stop in orbit around Earth. It was surprisingly peaceful, especially after their previous encounter, and allowed both women to take a breather at last._ _

__Barbara took off her glasses and rested her head on her forearms. “Ughhhh. I never want to do that again.”_ _

__“Amen,” Dinah agreed. “But still. You...you did it. That was amazing! I’ve never seen anyone fly like that.”_ _

__Turning to look at her, Barbara said, “You don’t need to sound so surprised.”_ _

__“You know I didn’t mean it like that.”_ _

__She shrugged and put her glasses back on. “If you say so.” She started typing again. “I’ll call my friend to give us clearance for landing.”_ _

__The phone rang for a few seconds before a male voice answered. “Hello?”_ _

__“Hey Nightwing. This is Oracle and Black Canary requesting permission to dock in the Batcave.”_ _

__“Permission granted. Ready when you are, Oracle.”_ _

__“Oh, and there’s one more thing.”_ _

__“Yeah?”_ _

__“Could you please bring my spare chair to the docking bay?”_ _

__“Of course. Nightwing out.”_ _

__The line went dead and Dinah frowned, trying to remember where she knew that guy’s voice from._ _

__Meanwhile Barbara flew them down to Earth and parked the ship in the docking bay of a large black building shaped like a bat. Then she turned off the engine and pressed the button to open the external doors._ _

__A tall man with dark hair boarded, pushing a low-backed wheelchair which he positioned next to the pilot’s seat. While Barbara transferred into it, he said, “Hi Babs. I wasn’t expecting you back for another few days.”_ _

__“Something came up,” she said without meeting his eyes._ _

__“And can I ask what happened to your current chair?”_ _

__“It went kaboom. And so did my ship, before you ask.”_ _

__The smile dropped off his face and he turned pale. “What? Was someone trying to kill you?”_ _

__“Yeah.” She looked everywhere except at him, folding her arms and rubbing her hands up her forearms._ _

__“Do you think it was the same person that killed the crew?” At her look he clarified, “Alfred saw it on the news and told me what happened. I’m so sorry.”_ _

__“Me too. And Dick, the only reason I survived was this lady right here.” She took Dinah’s hand to pull her toward them._ _

__Now that Dinah had heard him in person, she was fairly sure she knew who this dude was. But she needed to be certain, so she held up a hand to cover his upper face from where she was standing. “I knew it! You were Batman at one point, weren’t you? I remember you worked with me and the Justice League a few times.”_ _

__He nodded. “I was indeed. Well spotted, Dinah. Dick Grayson, at your service.” He shook her hand._ _

__Then he turned back to Barbara. “Shall I go let Alfred know you’re back? Then we can go over the evidence and hopefully find out who is behind all this.”_ _

__Barbara nodded. “Good call.”_ _

__“Okay. See you soon, Babs, Dinah.” He left the ship._ _

__Dinah raised an eyebrow at Barbara. “So you two seem close, _"Babs"_.”_ _

__“We’ve been friends since we were kids,” she replied. “But we aren’t together, if that’s what you mean.”_ _

__“In that case…” Dinah sat in Barbara’s lap and placed a hand on either side of her face, then kissed her. After a moment she gently pulled away and said breathlessly, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a really long time.”_ _

__Barbara smiled and took off her glasses. “I can tell.” Then she kissed her back, tangling her hands in Dinah’s hair._ _

__After a few minutes the sound of footsteps came from the corridor outside the ship, causing the pair to break away and stop what they were doing._ _

__“We should go talk to Dick and Alfred,” Barbara said, putting her glasses back on and combing her hair with her fingers to try and make herself look presentable._ _

__Dinah nodded, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth. “Mmhm.” She stood up and gestured for Barbara to lead the way, since she didn’t actually know where they were going._ _

__“Hold on.” Barbara motioned for Dinah to bend down, and adjusted a section of her hair where her parting was messed up._ _

__“Thanks,” she said._ _

__Barbara headed into the building and led them through a maze of tunnels. Eventually they found Dick and Alfred in a spacious, high-tech room filled with TV and computer screens, most of which were playing news reports of what had happened to the crew._ _

__The two men were sitting around a table in the middle of the room. Dinah took one of the unoccupied chairs and Barbara wheeled herself into the empty spot next to her._ _

__“Hi Alfred,” Barbara said, giving him a little wave._ _

__He nodded genteelly. “Miss Barbara, Miss Dinah, it’s a pleasure to see both of you.”_ _

__“So.” Dick clasped his hands together. “Let’s go over what we know. Babs, Dinah, you two were there for most of this, why don’t you tell us what happened?”_ _

__“Dinah?” Barbara prompted._ _

__“Okay, right. The crew all went into the brig, I don’t know how or why, but I get the feeling it wasn’t voluntary. There were signs that their previous stations had been abandoned in a hurry and bullets in the walls. There were scorch marks in the floor, kind of in a line going away from the door.”_ _

__“Perhaps the saboteur had set something on fire and tossed it into the room?” Alfred suggested._ _

__“Yes! There was this robot, I bet it was the one that caused the fire and sealed the airlock from inside the ship. It didn’t seem very high tech, but it carried out its orders very well. Killed all the crew and tried to kill me as well, even though it had no way of knowing I would be there.”_ _

__“No loose ends,” Dick said, thinking aloud._ _

__"Then they came for Barbara next,” Dinah said._ _

__She took over telling the story. “That’s right. I tried using all my best cloaking technology but they still found me. Two big, black ships with lots of weapons.”_ _

__“How did you escape?”_ _

__“I, uh, went on a spacewalk to get out of range of the blast,” she said. “But I don’t want to talk about that. Then Dinah rescued me and the ships chased us through an asteroid field while firing at us, we only got away because we made the jump to lightspeed.”_ _

__Alfred nodded thoughtfully. “A bold move, to pick us off one by one like this.”_ _

__“So it’s got to be someone who knows us,” Dick said. “All of us, I mean.”_ _

__“And somebody with the means to perform such costly and perilous deeds,” Alfred added. “Not to mention it would have to be someone with a reason to want us all dead.”_ _

__“Okay, but there’s a lot of people who tick _that_ box.”_ _

__They continued mulling over the evidence and Dinah noticed that Barbara hadn’t said anything in a while. “Babs?” she asked quietly._ _

__“I know who it is,” Barbara said, startling the entire room._ _

__Alfred looked at her. “You do?”_ _

__“Yeah. It’s my very own archnemesis, the Calculator. He has the information, the resources, the motivation, the dedication. It has to be him.”_ _

__Everyone nodded. Dinah had to admit, she didn’t know a whole lot about the Calculator but what she did know matched up with that description._ _

__She continued, “He wants to wipe us all off the map, but we’re not gonna let that happen. He has to be stopped before he hurts anyone else. I think Dinah and I can handle that, can’t we?”_ _

__“We can indeed,” Dinah said._ _

__“Do you know where to find him?” Dick asked._ _

__Barbara nodded. “Yes. Don’t ask me how, though.”_ _

__“In that case I advise you to make haste,” Alfred said._ _

__“Will do.” Dinah scraped her chair back and followed Barbara to her ship._ _

__Once they had boarded, Barbara took her place in the pilot’s seat and Dinah sat in the seat next to her._ _

__“Hey Babs,” Dinah began._ _

__“Hmm?”_ _

__“How do you know where the Calculator is?”_ _

__“Ahh, I was wondering how long it would be before you asked that.”_ _

__“I know it’s top secret and all that, but you can tell me, right?”_ _

__“Of course I can, Di. I’ve been keeping tabs on him for a while, but I didn’t want to tell anyone because it’s not very legal. And I didn’t want to act on it incase I tipped my hand. But at the moment, I really feel I have no choice.”_ _

__Dinah shrugged and put her feet up on the console. “I trust your judgement. If you feel we should go confront this guy, I’m game.”_ _

__Barbara smiled. “I’m glad you feel that way. I wouldn’t make you do this if you weren’t comfortable with it.”_ _

__“Besides, I still owe you a drink and good music.”_ _

__“And, as soon as this is over, I fully intend to take you up on that offer.”_ _

__Barbara fired up the engine and typed in the coordinates for the Calculator’s lair. Then she carefully steered them out of the Batcave and away from Earth._ _

__When they exited the atmosphere, she glanced uncertainly at Dinah who gave her an encouraging smile._ _

__So together they flew off into the distance, ready to defeat the bad guy and make the galaxy a safer place for everyone._ _

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from the song Way Down We Go by Kaleo, and the song Babs sings is House of Gold by Twenty One Pilots.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at @oraclebabsgordon


End file.
